Recently checked the script and was surprised to find out that the opening scene with Rusty in the giant pawn piece wasn't actually in there. Anyone know how and why this came about? It does seem odd that they would completely drop any reference to the end of the previous episode (Lucy's line about Hawk being in the room with a crying man wasn't written either.)

Also, oddly, the Nadine slide show is in that script as well as 28. Was it just a case of moving it because they didn't have time to include it in 27 (especially with the addition of that opening and some of Gyllenhaal's other touches)?

Having recently reviewed the later part of season 2, some of which I had only seen once, I was really impressed with this episode. Granted, there were a few scenes that I admittedly skipped through, but overall I think it's a contender for the best episode of the those between 16 and 29. There is a sense of foreboding throughout. It's significantly stronger than episode 28.

I wish Gyllenhaal had directed more episodes, because he shows such incredible talent here. No surprise that Lynch expressed approval of some of his choices, as he seems one of the most Lynchian of the other Peaks directors. Just for a minor example, look at the way Gyllenhaal uses lots of medium or medium-wides, and lets them linger, as in the first scene when we see those men awkwardly attempt to move the giant pawn piece. I would also say that this episode marks the first time that the show has been legitimately creepy since before Leland died. Even things which are normally not creepy become so here, like the scene of Leo zapping himself as Earle laughs like a madman -- a rare scene in which Earle is fairly effective. He's also good in the horse-suit costume to an extent, which manages to make the best of a silly idea; I think it's mostly the sheer weirdness of seeing this horse costume in the middle of the woods that sells it. And Earle is great in that last scene of his, where he seems more unhinged than ever as he talks of the map to the lodge; it seems Earle is most interesting when he's weirder and more almost mentally unbalanced, instead of when he's a disguise-wearing prankster or evil genius who rattles off eloquent paragraphs of exposition. Gyllenhaal seems to understand this. Lynch did most of all -- just look at Earle's scene in the truck with Annie and how he seems like not an incredibly intelligent super-villain but rather a broken, delusional freak. In hands like Lynch's or Gyllenhaal, then, Earle is used for his pure visceral craziness, an incomprehensible force of nature, and not his super-logical, brilliant but evil mind. Frost as a rationalist clearly treasures the latter, but Lynch is all about going up to the limits of sanity and confronting the unfathomable creatures that populate that area.

There's just a ton to like about this episode, which I think must rate as the best non-Lynch hour of S2 (along with 13 and 25). That we're getting such increasingly eerie and foreboding goings-on amidst the most romantic stories of the series, only makes it more potent. (Even the lone weaker plot in here, with JJW and Audrey getting intimate, has Pete's hand suddenly shaking). A very Lynchian thing, to have fear and love side-by-side. The ending really is fantastic. It would have worked so well as a lead-in for Lynch's finale, with its beckoning hand sticking out of the Red Room curtains. (And of course, the Miss Twin Peaks stuff is completely disposable). But I also really love the way the finale begins as it does, in the middle of things, in the middle of a momentous night fraught with danger and fear. 27 is kind of odd in that it really feels more like it should be the penultimate episode (which I suppose it was when originally aired!) Having 28 come in between it and the stupendous 29 just makes things feel anti-climactic, like things were just ready to get intense put we have to pause for a while to watch a frivolous beauty pageant. It's weird structuring and makes the contrivance of the whole MTP plot seem even more obvious.

Snailhead wrote:Having recently reviewed the later part of season 2, some of which I had only seen once, I was really impressed with this episode. Granted, there were a few scenes that I admittedly skipped through, but overall I think it's a contender for the best episode of the those between 16 and 29. There is a sense of foreboding throughout. It's significantly stronger than episode 28.

Agreed. Very true to the spirit established in season one.

Just out of morbid curiosity, does anyone who the actor was that Gylenhall "couldn't stand"? I know it's gossip-y and unimportant, but he mentions it in the interviews on the disc containing episodes 23-26 in the Entire Mystery set. Supposedly the actor was "weird and vein", my appetite for every last bit of info on the filming of TP has me wanting to know for some reason.

For some reason I assumed it was Billy Zane although I don't recall hearing anything particular about him being difficult on other sets. But this anecdote combined with the "anonymous" story in Reflections about Zane and Fenn refusing to cross the stage to one another tempts me to put two and two together. And he says this "suited the character" which I guess could definitely mean Welsh, but also kinda rings true, for me at least, for JJW, even though he's supposed to be a good guy.

EDIT: Actually the "who crosses to who" scene sounded like it was on an inside set, which would suggest it's ep. 24 (i.e. Foley or someone working on that episode). So maybe the two anecdotes aren't related after all. Buchanan does sound like a good guess, though people from the fests always seem to find him very pleasant if maybe a tad aloof. Maybe he just rubbed Gyllenhaal the wrong way? I'm not sure I've heard any stories about Welsh being standoffish to people and the character, while certainly villainous, doesn't exactly fit the type of pompous in the way I picture when Gyllenhaal is talking, but maybe that's just me.

Snailhead wrote:Having recently reviewed the later part of season 2, some of which I had only seen once, I was really impressed with this episode. Granted, there were a few scenes that I admittedly skipped through, but overall I think it's a contender for the best episode of the those between 16 and 29. There is a sense of foreboding throughout. It's significantly stronger than episode 28.

Agreed. Very true to the spirit established in season one.

Just out of morbid curiosity, does anyone who the actor was that Gylenhall "couldn't stand"? I know it's gossip-y and unimportant, but he mentions it in the interviews on the disc containing episodes 23-26 in the Entire Mystery set. Supposedly the actor was "weird and vein", my appetite for every last bit of info on the filming of TP has me wanting to know for some reason.

I've always thought he was referring to Richard Beymer.

I don't believe the hand twitching was written into the original screenplay. That was Gyllenhaal's own addition to the episode.

At around the 25 minute mark, after Audrey leaves Ben's office abruptly, we hear the hand twitching music, but Ben's hand does not twitch. Instead, Ben turns around as if someone was behind him.

I believe Gyllenhaal asked Beymer to do the hand twitch, but Beymer refused, probably citing that it was not in the script. In Gyllenhaal's interview, he describes an actor refusing to do something, if I remember correctly.

This episode may very well have the best ending sequence of the entire series - certainly it's right up there with the red curtains at the Road House in Episode 14, the shocking ending of the first season finale, and maybe only really rivaled by the series finale mirror-crunch. This may also be the only time we see BOB by himself, not leering at someone, but doing something sort of pedestrian (well, to him, anyway). Terrifying nonetheless, and really interesting how we don't actually really see his face - a really cool shot. This coupled with the long pans through the empty hallways built up some serious creepiness.

Just watched this one tonight...So how did Windom and Leo get the giant chess piece from the cabin onto the gazebo? It looks like it took around 6-8 guys to carry it down from the gazebo. I guess it's just another example of Windom's unlimited resources and abilities.

This episode is full of great moments. It also provokes some interesting questions. The first thing that comes to my mind is Pete talking to Josie in the mantel at The Great Northern. Could he have really seen her there? Next question I have is, why is everyone's hand shaking? There seems to be a collective energy askew in the town. I wrote a recap for this episode here ---> http://twinpeaksfanatic.blogspot.com/20 ... de-27.html